Osama Bin Laden Fake Death Photo Makes New York Post, Daily Mail, Sun, Mirror and So On

May 2, 2011

The obviously Photoshopped picture of a “dead” Osama Bin Laden, which has been circulating since at least 2009, is printed large and proud (though obscured due to some bad stretching) on page two of today’s New York Post. They were far from the only ones to take the bait, which the internet called out early in Sunday night’s information onslaught.

The blog Tabloid Watch did well to document most of the quick-to-publish slip-ups in screenshot form, including England’s Daily Mail, Sun, Mirror, Telegraph, Times and SkyNews. Here’s but one example, though the British rags were largely lucky to keep their mistakes online-only:

The Post, meanwhile, has an unquestioning photo caption that reads, “The mutilated face of Osama bin Laden, shot to death in a dring US operation, pollutes the airwaves early today as his miserable, rancid corpse is displayed for the world to see.”

Much to the dismay of Cindy Sheehan and her conspiracy-minded ilk, ABC News reports that the White House does indeed have pictures of Bin Laden’s dead body — and “there’s no doubt it’s him” — though they have not yet decided whether the images will be made public. Something tells us that even if the powers that be decide to keep the pictures secret, it won’t take 10 years for them to leak.

UPDATE: Though it does not appear to have made any official publications, the super fake-looking picture below is circulating some on Twitter, purporting to be another photograph of Osama Bin Laden’s dead body. People seem rightfully skeptical because this Photosopping isn’t even skilled:

The Drudge Report says that President Barack Obama had decided to release at least one graphic photo of Bin Laden’s body, though the details of the unveiling are not yet public.